We will remember them

Our 2017 season drew to a close yesterday, fittingly on Armistice Day, when we sang a Remembrance themed Choral Evensong in St Paul's Episcopal Cathedral in Dundee, directed by Frikki Walker and accompanied by Kevin Duggan.

St Paul's continue to be most welcoming and generous hosts, and we look forward to future visits.  Thanks are particularly due to the Pastoral Musician Stuart Muir for his help in making the arrangements and for his tireless work on the day making us tea and coffee and generally being helpful, and to the Provost the Very Revd Jeremy Auld not only for allowing us to visit but for his sensitive leading of the service and his singing as cantor in the responses.

So our year finishes and whilst the thoughts of our singers turn towards the music they will sing in their home choirs over Advent and Christmas our Musical Director and particularly our Administrator put their minds to the various behind the scenes changes involved in the impending change from oversight by the RSCM Scotland committee to oversight by RSCM HQ in Salisbury, and all that entails. Initially a "child" of the RSCM Scotland committee back in 2008 the choir has gone from strength to strength with the magnificent support of the committee since we first sang a service together in January 2009, and we thank committee members past and present for that support, whilst looking forward with excitement to the new chapter in our corporate life and the opportunities that may present themselves.

And looking into the near'ish future, the next time we sing together will be in the Mediaeval Quire of Bothwell Parish Church in Lanarkshire, when we will sing an unaccompanied Choral Evensong at 4pm on Saturday 17th February 2018.  We hope to see you there!

2017-18 music list

The music list for the next 12 months has just today been finalised and announced, and we're really looking forward to a lovely balance of revisiting some previously performed classics and learning pieces we've never sung before. Please do come along to any of the services if you're in the area.

All of it is contained on our "future services and events" page on this site, but is reproduced below.


7th October 2017
St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Glasgow
Choral Evensong at 4pm
Director: James Kealey
Organist: Christopher Nickol

Introit: O pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Herbert Howells)
Responses: Bernard Rose
Psalm: 37 vv 1-11
Canticles: Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in F (Peter Aston)
Anthem: Evening Hymn (Henry Balfour-Gardiner)

11th November 2017
St Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, Dundee
Choral Evensong for Remembrance at 4pm
Director: Frikki Walker
Organist: Kevin Duggan

Introit: The souls of the righteous (Herbert Murrill)
Responses: John Bertalot
Psalms: 60 & 61
Canticles: Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in F (George Dyson)
Anthem: Though I speak with the tongues of men (Edward Cuthbert Bairstow)
Vesper: For the fallen (Douglas Guest)


17th February 2018
Bothwell Parish Church
Unaccompanied Choral Evensong in Mediaeval Quire at 4pm
Directors: Frikki Walker & Kevin Duggan

Introit: This is the day which the Lord hath made (Anonymous, probably Osbert Parsley)
Responses: Richard Ayleward
Psalm: 43 (Scottish Paraphrase - tune: Martyrs)
Canticles: Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis First Service (Robert Parsons)
Anthem: Hear the voice and prayer (Thomas Tallis)


24th March 2018
St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Glasgow
Chrism Mass at 4pm
Director: Frikki Walker
Organist: Kevin Duggan

Setting: Communion Service in G (Francis Jackson)
Motet: A new commandment (Peter Nardone)
Motet: Let all mortal flesh keep silence (Edward Cuthbert Bairstow)

19th May 2018
Durham Cathedral
Choral Evensong at 5.15pm
Director: Frikki Walker
Organist: Kevin Duggan

Responses: Herbert Sumsion
Canticles: Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in B flat (Sir John Stainer)
Anthem: Though I speak with the tongues of men (Edward Cuthbert Bairstow)

2018 season announced

After several months of work our administrator has finally put the last pieces into place for our 2018 season, so we can now officially announce all of our future dates and venues from this point onwards.

All of it will be rewarding and enjoyable, but in particular we're looking forward to our second proper foray across the border, and having sung in Carlisle Cathedral in 2016 we travel a little further south and lots further east to the magnificent Durham Cathedral.  Another highlight will undoubtedly be taking part in a Mass in King's College Chapel in Aberdeen, featuring music by Francois Couperin (1668-1733) which has been a particular interest and study subject of our Musical Director Frikki Walker who had the opportunity to travel to France in June this year with a group of fellow organists from the Royal College of Organists to play various organs including one in the Palace of Versailles.

Friday 11th to Sunday 13th August 2017
Annual Residential Rehearsal Weekend, Scottish Police College, Tulliallan Castle (NB no public access)

9th September 2017
St John's Episcopal Church, Dumfries
Choral Evensong at 4pm

7th October 2017
St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Glasgow
Choral Evensong at 4pm

11th November 2017
St Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, Dundee
Choral Evensong at 4pm

17th February 2018
Bothwell Parish Church
Choral Evensong at 4pm

24th March 2018
St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Glasgow
Chrism Mass at 4pm

19th May 2018
Durham Cathedral
Choral Evensong at 5.15pm

2nd June 2018
Along with choirs from around Scotland we will be taking part in the RSCM Scotland Triennial Festival in Dundee

Friday 10th to Sunday 12th August 2018
Annual Residential Rehearsal Weekend, Scottish Police College, Tulliallan Castle (NB no public access)

15th September 2018
St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh
Choral Evensong at 4pm

6th October 2018
King's College Chapel, Aberdeen
Mass at 4pm, featuring music by Couperin

17th November 2018
Dunblane Cathedral
Choral Evensong at 4pm

We are a non-denominational choir that sings in churches of varying traditions, and often in them we sing Choral Evensong which although of Anglican origin is a beautiful Christian service which lends itself wonderfully to some of the most fantastic music ever written.  The following was spotted by our administrator in a cathedral in England and they did not object when they were asked if we could use it, so for several years it has been included in all of our Choral Evensong Orders of Service:

Some have said that Choral Evensong seems to be more of a concert that an act of worship. That would be true if the singing were offered to those present – but it isn’t. It is offered by the Choir, on behalf of the whole church, to Almighty God – who alone is the audience to all worship; we are part of that offering, even though we say little and sing even less; by our presence and our silent assent we are worshipping as we allow the Choir – doing something beautiful for God who creates, preserves and redeems us – to lift our hearts beyond the mundane into the realms of the eternal and glorious life of heaven.

Bothwell history lesson

Yesterday we visited the wonderfully historic Bothwell Parish Church where we sang Choral Evensong directed by Frikki Walker and accompanied by Richard Walmsley.

The music included Bairstow's Save us, O Lord, Howells' Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in G, William Smith Responses, and the introit Hear my prayer, O Lord which we were slightly naughty with after the rehearsal had finished.  Bothwell Parish Church has a mediaeval quire which has been closed for renovation for over four years but which was due to reopen a couple of weeks ago, that was partly why we arranged this date to go and sing there, but inevitably the works have been delayed by a short few weeks and although it's basically finished it hasn't yet been cleaned up, signed off as safe, and reopened so is still shuttered off from the main church.  But, and don't tell anyone this, access can be gained to it via an emergency exit door, so with copies in hand, and some trepidation lest the roof fell in on top of us, we briefly filed into the old part of the church and performed Purcell's hauntingly beautiful anthem with its soaring, climactic, eargasmic conclusion in the glorious acoustic of the mediaeval quire.  Just for fun.

Singing in the mediaeval quire

A splendid day was had by all the choir, we had a fair number of people not only in the congregation during the service but wandering in and out during the afternoon's rehearsals since the church doors were open in connection with Bothwell's Scarecrow Festival, and the welcome we received from the minister, assistant minister, and everyone at the church was lovely.

The minister, Rev Jim Gibson who is Chaplain in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen as well as being a Member of the Chapel Royal in Scotland, led the service (along with Assistant Minister Rev Hanna Ranking), and started by welcoming everyone and giving a brief history lesson on the church in Bothwell which although now firmly a Presbyterian Church of Scotland was originally Roman Catholic and following the Reformation was Anglican for thirty years.  With members from many traditions we are very firmly a multi-denominational choir, the RSCM has something to offer all Christian denominations, and we were glad to be singing in a building that has hosted many flavours of Christianity over the years.

Our thoughts now turn to our next meeting, on Saturday 8th October when at 4pm we will sing Choral Evensong in St Cuthbert's Parish Church, Lothian Road, Edinburgh, for which the music list will be announced soon.

2017 season announced

The venues for our 2017 season have just been finalised, so including the last half of our 2016 season from this point forward our plans are listed below.  Other than our rehearsal weekend when there is no public access we'd be delighted to see you at one or more of our services, which generally start at 4pm, last under an hour, and contain glorious music!

10th September 2016
Bothwell Parish Church
Choral Evensong at 4pm

8th October 2016
St Cuthbert's Parish Church, Lothian Rd, Edinburgh
Choral Evensong at 4pm

12th November 2016
Culross Abbey
Choral Evensong at 4pm

14th January 2017
St Michael's Parish Church, Linlithgow
Choral Evensong at 4pm

4th March 2017
Church of the Holy Rude, Stirling
Choral Evensong at 4pm

20th May 2017
Peebles Old Parish Church
Choral Evensong at 4pm

11th to 13th August 2017
Scottish Police College, Tulliallan Castle, Kincardine on Forth
Annual Residential Rehearsal Weekend (NB: No public access or performance)

9th September 2017
St John's Episcopal Church, Dumfries
Choral Evensong at 4pm

7th October 2017
St Machar's Cathedral, Aberdeen
Choral Evensong at 4pm

11th November 2017
St Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, Dundee
Choral Evensong at 4pm

Dunblane 2016

Psalm rehearsal

Yesterday saw the first half of our 2016 season draw to a close with Choral Evensong in Dunblane Cathedral, directed by Frikki Walker and accompanied by Steven McIntyre, including music by Peter Hurford, Richard Seal, Herbert Murrill, and Malcolm Archer.

Unfortunately the Rev Colin Renwick is ill at the moment, we wish him a speedy recovery, so the service was led by Richard Finch, the readings were done by Nigel Hart and Neil Parker, and the cantor was David James, all choir members.

Dunblane had been hosting a training day for the Scottish Churches Organist Training Scheme (SCOTS), which we gather went very well, and this meant that the congregation was boosted by many of the organists who had been enjoying their own music making earlier in the day.  Some of them joined various choir members in the Tappit Hen across the road from the Cathedral for a post-service refreshment, and it was nice to chat to them.

Some of us will get together with the choir of St Mary's Cathedral in Glasgow to celebrate RSCM Music Sunday on 12th June, then some of us are singing at the wedding of two of our members in August in Ayrshire (them having met in the choir) and in late August we have our residential rehearsal weekend when we'll start to learn repertoire for the next 12 months and of course we'll socialise hard!

The next time we shall sing as a choir together though is on Saturday 10th September when we'll be in Bothwell Parish Church (where one of our members is the organist) singing Choral Evensong at our customary time of 4pm.

There will soon be the annual meeting to plan our next year's activities, so that hopefully all the dates and confirmed venues can be announced to the choir at the rehearsal weekend (this is BY FAR the busiest time of the year for the choir administrator), so watch this space because they'll be announced here soon after the choir members get to know.

2016 season announced

Hot off the press, our choir members have just been enjoying our annual residential rehearsal weekend which this year has been at the Scottish Police College, Tulliallan Castle, and during the weekend all of the venues for our 2016 season were announced, so including the remaining three events of 2015 all of our confirmed future activities can now be revealed to the world as:

• 5th Sep 2015, 4pm - St John's Episcopal Cathedral, Oban - Choral Evensong
  
• 3rd Oct 2015, 4pm - St Ninian's Episcopal Cathedral, Perth - Choral Evensong
• 14th Nov 2015, 4pm - Old Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, Edinburgh - Joint Choral Evensong with Young Scottish Voices
• 6th Feb 2016, 5.30pm - Carlisle Cathedral - Choral Evensong
• 19th Mar 2016,  4pm - St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Glasgow- Choral Evensong
• 9th Apr 2016 - Peterborough Cathedral - RSCM Cathedral Singers Golden Jubilee Celebration
• 14th May 2016, 4pm - Dunblane Cathedral - Joint Choral Evensong with Young Scottish Voices
• 19th to 21st Aug 2016 - Residential Rehearsal Weekend (no public performance)
• 10th Sep 2016, 4pm - Bothwell Parish Church - Choral Evensong
• 8th Oct 2016, 4pm - St Cuthbert's Parish Church, Edinburgh - Choral Evensong
• 12th Nov 2016, 4pm - Culross Abbey - Joint service with Young Scottish Voices

With so many lovely cathedrals, abbeys, and churches around the country it's sometimes hard paring down our wish-list to something workable, but 2016 looks like it's going to be a great year with a couple of welcome return visits (St Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow and Dunblane Cathedral), and the rest being first visits for us, including of course our first real foray across the border to our friends in England.

Full details of each service will be announced here and on Twitter nearer the time, and of course dates and venues are always published in The Network which is distributed to RSCM members and affiliated churches alongside Church Music Quarterly.